Private schools and vocational schools in Ho Chi Minh City struggle to enroll students

GD&TĐ - Unlike previous years, after the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training announced the benchmark scores, enrollment in grade 10 for the 2025-2026 school year at private schools and vocational schools became more difficult.

Although the facilities have launched many preferential policies, the enrollment situation is quite sluggish.

Many preferential policies

In the 2025-2026 school year, Tran Nhan Tong High School (Binh Tri Dong Ward) was assigned 150 quotas by the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, however, in the past 10 days, the school has only recruited more than half. Previously, to attract students, the school did not increase tuition fees, but also had many preferential policies such as giving backpacks and uniforms to students. Even so, the school still has difficulty attracting students because the number of students is too small while there are many places for them to choose from.

Mr. Tran Minh - Vice Principal of the school shared that this year, the number of students graduating from junior high school is less than last year, while the rate of admission to public grade 10 is high. On the other hand, the school's operating area has just established a public high school with more than 500 targets, the benchmark score is quite low. Therefore, all students are admitted to this school. In previous years, with the above scores, students would choose to study at private schools.

“In addition, since the Covid-19 pandemic, the economy has become difficult. If their children do not pass the entrance exam to public schools, parents will prioritize choosing vocational training centers or vocational schools because they have tuition exemptions. In cases where it is too far or inconvenient, they will choose private schools. With the above situation, the school's admissions department is trying to recruit students, hoping to reach 2/3 of the target by early August,” said Mr. Tran Minh.

Similarly, Hong Ha Secondary and High School (Go Vap Ward) has so far only recruited more than 400 students compared to the assigned target of 700. However, according to Ms. Ha Kim Sa - Principal of the school, compared to other schools, this is a fairly large number, but compared to last year, the enrollment situation is still slow and has not met expectations.

“To attract students, the school has many tuition fee exemptions for students. Specifically, excellent students with an average score of 8.0 - 9.0 or higher in Math, Literature, and English will be awarded scholarships at the opening ceremony of the school year. In addition, siblings studying at Hong Ha - Nhat Tan School will receive tuition fee reductions...”, Ms. Sa said.

Regarding vocational schools, records at schools show that enrollment activities this year are quite gloomy. Mr. Hoang Quoc Long - Principal of Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary School (Go Vap Ward) said that although the target is 400 students like last year, currently there are only more than 50 applications registered.

Although vocational training is subsidized by the State, in the context of an increasingly expandingeducation system, secondary schools are under fierce competition from higher education systems such as colleges and universities. “There is no longer the option of ‘failing university or college, then studying secondary school’ as before, vocational schools now have almost no opportunity to enroll students after high school. The rate of students enrolling in secondary school after graduating from high school is very low, almost negligible,” said Mr. Long.

Staff of Hong Ha Secondary and High School advise students about the 10th grade program at the school. Photo: NTCC

Self-renewal

Mr. Hoang Quoc Long emphasized that it is time to reconsider the role of secondary schools in the vocational education system. Secondary schools should not be the last resort, but should be a choice with orientation from the beginning.

According to him, secondary schools can become a place to train students with solid practical skills after grade 9, especially in fields lacking human resources such as engineering, services, and manufacturing. With the advantage of fast training, linked to vocational skills, secondary schools can promptly meet the needs of the labor market. If done well, this will be a source of skilled labor, reducing the cost of retraining for businesses.

From an expert perspective, Mr. Tran Anh Tuan - Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Vocational Education Association said that secondary schools must change their image, no longer being a place "for weak students", but must become a place for practical learning, quick graduation, and clear jobs.

Some schools have invested heavily in facilities, a friendly learning environment, simulating the business environment, so that students can “do real work” during their studies. For example, at some schools, the “business in school” model or training cooperation with businesses has been implemented. Students can intern, work and be recruited immediately after graduation.

“When students and parents clearly see a specific career path, recruitment is no longer difficult. However, this work will take a lot of time,” said Mr. Tuan.

For non-public schools, for many years now, a number of schools have proposed plans to invest heavily in facilities and improve teaching quality to raise their brand on the city's education map.

According to Ms. Phan Thi Anh Hoang - Principal of Nam Viet Kindergarten - Primary - Secondary - High School (HCMC), in the 2025 - 2026 school year, the school aims to invest heavily in facilities and develop the teaching staff to improve teaching quality and attract students. The school also sets reasonable tuition fees and applies many attractive incentive policies to create opportunities for many students to study.

“At the Nam Viet School system, in addition to teachers regularly innovating teaching methods, the school also invests heavily in student support services such as shuttle buses, health care, psychological counseling, life skills training, and improving English and IT skills according to international standards,” said Ms. Hoang.

Mr. Hoang Minh Huy - Principal of Hai Ba Trung Secondary and High School (Tan Hoa, Ho Chi Minh City), said: Although enrollment is difficult, in recent years, the school has always focused on investing, equipping facilities and equipment with adequate conditions, building education and training programs according to integration trends, enhancing foreign language teaching and life skills.

“The school selects and trains teachers with high professional qualifications, experience and passion for the profession. They are also given opportunities to improve their professional qualifications and pedagogical skills,” said Mr. Huy.

“In the 2024-2025 school year, Ho Chi Minh City will have more than 88,772 ninth graders, a decrease of 29,000 compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, the enrollment target for grade 10 in public high schools is nearly 71,020 students. The sharp decrease in the number of students is one of the reasons why non-public schools and vocational schools are having difficulty enrolling students in the 2025-2026 school year,” said Mr. Tran Minh.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/truong-tu-truong-nghe-tai-tphcm-chat-vat-tuyen-sinh-post740154.html